The field of the invention is flooring surfaces for recreational use. Numerous designs are in use and perhaps the most popular design is sold under the trademark "Sport Court". One design of this flooring is shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 of the drawings where a square tile having a playing surface 1'.times.1' has outwardly extending interlocking members on two of the sides and inwardly extending interlocking members on the other two sides. The inwardly extending members have pegs which interlock with the outward extending members to form a uniform playing surface. Because the tiles are square, however, long straight seams are formed over the playing surface and particularly in the sport of roller hockey, these long straight seams can interfere with the play of the sport, as well as to create a weak point where the floor buckles when it expands. While some designs of the "Sport Court" brand of playing surface are open in a lattice design, the prior art style most popular for use in the sport of roller hockey has a generally smooth flat playing surface. A generally smooth playing surface tends to create a tendency for the wheels of the inline skates of the skater to slip or skid but speeds the sliding of a roller hockey puck. A rougher playing surface slows and shortens the travel of the puck but permits the skater to make sharper turns without slipping. Because of the difficulties caused to the skater, an improved design would be beneficial.
Ice hockey has been a major sport for many years. Roller hockey is a relatively new sport which utilizes inline skates and a plastic puck. With ice hockey the puck moves quickly on the ice surface and the skater moves quickly and has the ability to make sharp turns without skidding. It would be ideal to simulate these two benefits for the sport of roller hockey. In roller hockey the puck moves slower as more friction is created by the floor surface and moves faster as the friction is reduced. With ice hockey, the skater is able to turn or stop very quickly because his skates dig into the ice surface. This does not occur with inline skates. Until now there has not been a floor for roller hockey that provides both a fast puck movement and the ability for the skater to grip the floor surface for sharper turns. For instance, with asphalt the skater is able to grip the surface and thus, turn quickly, but the puck moves very slowly because of the high friction. Likewise, with a wood surface, the skate wheels grip the wood surface very well but the puck moves relatively slowly. With normal cement, once again the skater can turn quickly but the puck is slow. A painted or roll-on cement surface can be made either to provide a slow puck and a fast skater or a fast puck but a slippery surface. In the plastic squares commonly used in the sport of roller hockey, the puck surface is slippery for the skater who is thus unable to turn quickly.
Several patents have been issued on modular flooring. One is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,960,375 which has the outwardly extending and inwardly positioned interlocking members which snap together to form the modular playing surface. Another design is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,548 which also has an open surface and interlocks to form the modular playing surface. U.S. Pat. No. 4,054,987 shows yet another open surface design with interlocking pegs and outwardly extending members.